Re:America's Most Overrated Product: the Bachelor's Degree
by lallysingh on Monday October 06, 2008 @06:19PM
(#325391)
Clearly the problem with the US is that we have too much education.
Ugh. Complaining about the drop rate is valid. Sure. But blaming individual actors for systemic failure is no better than blaming your loan officer for the economic meltdown.
Note that critiques of education follow two lines:
1. You don't get enough for your first job (e.g. real-life skills --- such as C++/Java).
2. You don't get enough for the rest of your life (e.g. critical thinking).
A cute dichotomy, but unsatisfying. Frankly what I don't like about all this is the static "learn" phase followed by the static "work" phase. I grew up working while in school (not the heroic part-time school, part-time student way, just the lazy "I need RAM money, time for a summer gig" method). I like the idea, and it's made me a better student and a better professional programmer.
What gets me is little incentive I see for people to alternate between school & work. Either you work 12 hrs a day (8 for work, 4 for school), or give up work (& salary) to go back. Neither are good choices if you've got a spouse and kids.
Are there employers that give you a break on responsibilities (at least in hard time) to get an advanced degree? The payoff in smarter employees seems pretty worthwhile.
It'd be better to make undergrad less of a make-or-break situation, and more of a path of work/learning that continues for the rest of your life. But eh, that's more touchy/feely than most would like.
Ugh. Complaining about the drop rate is valid. Sure. But blaming individual actors for systemic failure is no better than blaming your loan officer for the economic meltdown.
Note that critiques of education follow two lines:
1. You don't get enough for your first job (e.g. real-life skills --- such as C++/Java).
2. You don't get enough for the rest of your life (e.g. critical thinking).
A cute dichotomy, but unsatisfying. Frankly what I don't like about all this is the static "learn" phase followed by the static "work" phase. I grew up working while in school (not the heroic part-time school, part-time student way, just the lazy "I need RAM money, time for a summer gig" method). I like the idea, and it's made me a better student and a better professional programmer.
What gets me is little incentive I see for people to alternate between school & work. Either you work 12 hrs a day (8 for work, 4 for school), or give up work (& salary) to go back. Neither are good choices if you've got a spouse and kids.
Are there employers that give you a break on responsibilities (at least in hard time) to get an advanced degree? The payoff in smarter employees seems pretty worthwhile.
It'd be better to make undergrad less of a make-or-break situation, and more of a path of work/learning that continues for the rest of your life. But eh, that's more touchy/feely than most would like.